AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Down 7.8% – Here’s What Happened
by Jessica Moore · The Cerbat GemAST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS – Get Free Report)’s stock price traded down 7.8% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $71.03 and last traded at $71.95. 19,333,529 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 57% from the average session volume of 12,282,946 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.05.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of analysts have issued reports on ASTS shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Barclays cut shares of AST SpaceMobile from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Scotiabank raised shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.60 price target for the company in a report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, UBS Group cut AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AST SpaceMobile currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.66.
Read Our Latest Report on ASTS
AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance
The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $69.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 9.56 and a quick ratio of 9.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -58.02 and a beta of 2.76.
AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $14.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.04 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 1,639.59% and a negative return on equity of 27.76%. AST SpaceMobile’s quarterly revenue was up 1236.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($1.10) earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Insider Buying and Selling at AST SpaceMobile
In other news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total transaction of $773,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 382,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,572,882.50. This represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Tower Corp /Ma/ American sold 2,288,621 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.75, for a total value of $159,631,314.75. Following the transaction, the insider owned 211,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,743,685.25. This represents a 91.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 2,140 shares of company stock worth $137,236 and sold 2,354,621 shares worth $164,348,075. Company insiders own 30.90% of the company’s stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 82.6% during the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 8,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $441,000 after buying an additional 4,069 shares during the period. Greenhaven Road Investment Management L.P. raised its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter. Greenhaven Road Investment Management L.P. now owns 329,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,153,000 after acquiring an additional 61,111 shares in the last quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. lifted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 138.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. now owns 32,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,614,000 after purchasing an additional 19,065 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 34.5% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 46.4% in the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 4,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407 shares during the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
AST SpaceMobile Company Profile
AST SpaceMobile is a U.S.-based aerospace company developing a space-based cellular broadband network designed to connect standard mobile phones and other devices directly to satellites. The company’s core proposition is “space-to-cell” service: operating a constellation of low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellites equipped with large, high-power phased-array antennas to provide wide-area mobile broadband without requiring users to buy specialized terminals or handset modifications.
AST SpaceMobile designs, builds and operates satellite payloads and supporting ground infrastructure.